24 Hours of Le Mans: Ford GT, Corvette C7.R take different paths to the podium

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As rivals in the showroom and on the racetrack, Ford and Chevrolet know what it's like to lose a tough one now and then.

Racing-program leaders for the Ford GT and Corvette both experienced a weekend of ups and downs at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Defending GTE Pro class champion Ford GT finished second. Corvette Racing finished third, despite leading the World Endurance Championship race for 45 minutes before being passed by an Aston Martin driven by Jonathan Adam on the final lap. A blown tire relegated driver Jordan Taylor and the No. 63 Corvette C7.R to third place.

Ford GT's drivers and team, meanwhile, worked hard all day with a No. 67 car from the Chip Ganassi Racing U.K. stable that just refused to run up front. Earlier in the week, the team was socked by race officials with a 20-kilogram weight addition to the car and a reduction in horsepower as part of a Balance of Performance formula designed to level the playing field.

The second-place Ford GT from the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

Raj Nair, executive vice president and president, North America, at Ford Motor Company, said it was a tough weekend.

"There were some moments there when it seemed like everything was going wrong," Nair told Autoweek. "Clearly, we didn't have the speed of a lot of the competitors. That was definitely a show of tenacity over speed. We had quite a bit of time in the garage and quite a bit of time taking care of issues.

"The team ran some great strategies and really mapped out the last couple of hours as to where we thought everyone would be in regards to pit stops."

Ford's Harry Tincknell was cruising in third place and watching the battle -- including some contact that really made things entertaining -- between Aston Martin's Adam and Corvette's Taylor, when the Corvette blew a tire on the final lap and had to surrender its position to the Ford.

"We were pretty focused on the (fourth-place) Porsche at the time, because we didn't think the top two cars were within reach," Nair said. "It's unfortunate what happened to the Corvette. They obviously had a great day and to have a couple offs and then the puncture on the last lap is tough.

"I think for us, the type of day we had, we're proud of second place."

Ford GT's co-drivers on the podium were Andy Priaulx and Pipo Derani. Adam was assisted on the winning Aston Martin by Darren Turner and Daniel Serra.

Porsche claimed a 19th victory Sunday in the 2017 24 Hour of Le Mans at the end of a topsy-turvy race that saw all five of the factory LMP1 cars ran into major reliability issues.The No. 2 ...

Corvette won the class in 2015, so the U.S. winning streak at Le Mans ends at two.

"Once you win your class at Le Mans, there is nothing less that is acceptable," said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet's vice president of Performance Vehicles and Motorsport, as his team was battling for the lead in the final few hours. "It's a race that is binary. You either win or you don't."

Corvette was trying to make it to the top of the podium for the ninth time in 18 years. The 2015 class win makes Sunday's heartbreak even more difficult for Campbell, who carried the memory of 2016's second- and third-place finishes with him all the way to Le Mans 2017.

"When I get to Le Mans, I always turn my wrist watch to the local time," Campbell said. "Last year, I never changed my watch from Le Mans time. So, every day for the past year, my watch has been on Le Mans time as reminder -- a reminder of all the preparation we are doing every day, every week, every month for this race.

"The team is passionate about it. This race is the top of the list."

Mike Pryson
- Mike Pryson covered auto racing for the Jackson (Mich.) Citizen Patriot and M-Live Media Group from 1991 until joining Autoweek as online motorsports editor In 2012. Promoted to motorsports editor in 2015.
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